Former Camden councillor Theo Blackwell

LONDON’S “chief digital officer” has welcomed the number of tech firms which have moved into Camden – celebrating how they are willing to work with their new neighbours.

Theo Blackwell, a former Camden councillor hired by Sadiq Khan to transform the capital into a “digital city”, said schools should feel encouraged to get involved in tech and make connections with the firms arriving in hotspots like the King’s Cross railwaylands.

“We’ve got all of the top technology firms on our doorstep, and they’re really actively engaging in local schools in their local coding clubs. I think people get the best enjoyment out of coding when they see it as not just something you do in lessons but as something that you can do playfully – that it’s a hobby as well,” he said.

Mr Blackwell , who was on the council when plans to transform the land in King’s Cross were approved, paving the way for firms like Google and Facebook to move in, said London was undergoing a “digital revolution” that would see all businesses requiring some element of digital know-how and expertise from their employees.

He said: “The jobs of the future in practically every single industry will rely on people being competent with data and how you use it, and also working together. And the thing about coding is, it does have this image of people doing it alone, but actually to create something really great you’ve got to work with other people. So I think the future is both getting some of those skills in but also your ability to work with other people.”

Mr Blackwell said London had benefited from the way technology was being used to reduce pollution.

On Monday Mr Khan launched a review on how to harness AI (Artificial Intelligence) in efforts to tackle climate change. Thursday was National Clean Air Day but Tuesday saw the Mayor’s office issue a warning for high levels of pollution – the 201st high pollution day over the past five years. Mr Blackwell described how new technology has allowed City Hall to use something called a “digital twin” – a 3D online model of London, built by the Alan Turing Institute in King’s Cross, which allows city leaders to monitor pollution levels in real-time, all across the capital, through a series of pollution and traffic sensors alongside “jamcam” cameras that detect build-ups in traffic.

He said: “In the last five years, the city has really, really grown in its capabilities to really understand at a very local and granular level, how air quality is impacting London, so that can help the mayor make investments in trees in certain areas or green walls. “It can help fund behaviour change so you can give sensors to schools. And they can understand the polluting impact of the school run and kids can talk to their parents. So it’s not just about where the money goes. It’s about changing people’s behaviour.”

Another key component for City Hall as it works to tackle climate change is a project in collaboration with Imperial College London, called Breathe London, which posts air quality data to its website for the public to check. But if we know the city is polluted, how does that help?

Mr Blackwell said: “It allows decision-makers to spend a limited resource more wisely and in a more targeted way. Ask yourself, how did we understand something that we couldn’t see before? It was effectively down to human beings making a judgement, without data – but now we’ve got lots and lots of data from different sources that allow us to take much more action.

“And the Turing work [the digital twin model] allows for London to have a 48-hour Nitrogen Oxide weather report. The Mayor can with confidence make that warning to people about air quality so they can change their behaviour: it’s not just about people in councils or City Hall saying we’ll invest in this, it’s about people taking action for themselves.”